Did you attend the 2015 Winter NAMMM show? If not let us wrap up what’s new and improved with the Osiamo Music Gear family of brands.

Rockready Takes NAMM 2015 By Storm!

Coming soon from Rockready a full range of gig tested guitar accessories for the performing musician. First up, the Rockready Aereo gig bag, available in guitar and bass versions. Neal Walter received some great feedback about the bag from NAMM attendees.

Dealers ask us about exclusive territories

Available March 2015!

The Compdriver : New from Dr J!

The “COMPDRIVER” is a signature pedal of Dr J endorsee, Jose de Castro. This new Dr J pedal combines an overdrive and a compressor effect. With the two 2-way switches you can control the position of the compressor (before or after the overdrive), or you can turn it off. The tone of the overdrive was sculpted with Jose’s input. The overdrive is very clear and rises above your band when you kick it in!

The Dr J Pedal Lover Amp

“Pedal Lover”, a new Tube Amplifier, by compact pedal master Dr. J, specially designed for pedal users for use in small space occasions. With excellent tone reducibility and compatibility the Pedal Lover Amp can embody the tone of pedals and electric guitar at a very high level. Elegant white appearance makes it easy to co-ordinate with home decor perfectly.

The amp uses a CLASSIC A circuit design and the cabinet a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker giving excellent performance, and clear tone and distortion. There is no need to worry about neighbors knocking on your door. By using a switchable output power between 3.5W and 1W you can get outstanding tone at any volume. Best choice for compact pedal users!

Mooer Introduces the Micro Looper

The Mooer Micro Looper pedal packs 30 minutes of recording and unlimited overdubbing into a micro pedal size! The foot switch can be used to select record, play, stop, layer recordings, and delete recordings.The Mooer micro looper pedal is constructed with a full metal shell and is powered by a DC 9V adapter power supply (not included).

Music was always in the first place. My head was full of sounds served by Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Wish Bone Ash, David Gilmour and others. It was really hard to get decent music gear in Poland back in the 80’s – I had some knowledge and ideas, those two factors combined lead me to my first projects. It seems this project was good enough, so other musicians started asking me if I can do another units for them.

Do you play an instrument?

Yes of course. I am a guitar player. I don’t think I would start doing amps otherwise.

What’s the strangest request you ever received (besides this bloody questionnaire)?

There was a lot of strange requests and demands in over 30 years of Taurus history, but to be honest strangest are coming from my head. That is why Taurus offers devices like Stomp-Heads that are far beyond “tradition” of guitar heads. I am always trying to push my own limits to create something unique, something that I would like to have as a musician.

Who are some of the more famous Taurus Users and Endorsees?

I am proud to say that a lot of great musicians put their trust into Taurus, and it is really hard to list all of them. For sure it is worth to mention people like Nathan East, Al Di Meola, Wojtek Pilichowski, Marcus Miller or Wes Borland, but I have same respect and positive energy for all of those who choose Taurus as a tool in their artistic journey.

What’s coming up in 2015 for Taurus?

When it comes about new projects we are planning to enhance Stomp-Head guitar amplifiers family with brand new Stomp-Head 1 and Stomp-Head 5. Also we are not going to forget about bass players, so we will launch double channel Vandall-300 head and probably new line of bass combos. In 2015 we will be also focused on promoting the brand and our flagship products – Stomp-Heads in USA and other parts of the globe!

What was your initial inspiration the led to creating Pedals?
I think most of brand of effect pedal in China are just following some bad fashion. They use some cheap and inferior component and low the price. And I want to make some pedals that more exquisite, special, adjustable, and with humanization design, regardless of the cost.

You play guitar, tell us, what’s on your pedalboard?
I love playing guitar! I love every kind of sound from the instrument and what it can create with a band. And I always think deeply about the every type of instrument and their tone. I know how important they are and what they sound like.

There are all Dr.J pedals in my pedalboard, and I will even use the D53 Sparrow Bass DI on some occasions. And I also have a lot pedals from other brands like DOD、BOSS、OKKO、LOVEPEDAL、BARBER、WAMPLER and so on.

What’s the strangest request you ever received (besides this crazy interview)?
Actually, there is not much request that would let me feel strange. (I’m strange enough :) ).

Who are some of the more well-known Dr J users and endorsees?
We have Jose de Castro plus many others.

What’s coming up in 2015 for Dr J?
It is a business secret :) , but I promise there would be something we take serious.

Have you ever plugged your guitar into your pedal board, through a long cable and into your amp and felt like you lost some high-end from your tone? If so, your tone might benefit from the addition of a buffer pedal to your signal chain. Plugging directly into the amp through a short guitar cable gives the “purest” tone you can get. But once you add longer cables and patch cables and pedals to your signal chain that’s when you start losing high-end clarity.

Why A Buffer Pedal?
Nearly every guitarist that uses long cables or lots of pedals can benefit from the addition of a buffer pedal. But a buffer is often overlooked or just misunderstood by many guitarists. In short, all guitar cables and patch cords have capacitance. When you add this to your signal chain it’s like rolling down the tone knob on your guitar. We’re not too good on the science behind this (I switched from Electrical Engineer to liberal Arts for a reason) but we can still hear it with ours ears. Basically a buffer pedal can help you get your sound back to the “pure” tone when using just one short cable.

Where Do To Use A Buffer?
Anywhere you have long cables and/or lots of patch cables. The 2 most obvious choices are before and after your pedal board. A buffer in each of those locations will minimize your signal and tone loss at those 2 locations in your signal chain.

Why We Like the Dr Armor Buffer
The Armor Buffer has 2 buffer circuits: one designed to use in front of your pedal board and one designed to be used after. The Dr J Armor Buffer will buffer your signal while in the pedal board and again while it’s going to your amp. You can use both buffer circuits or just one or the other. Plus, even though the Armor Buffer looks big in this picture, it actually has a nice small foot print. It’s not as small as a micro pedal but it is smaller than a standard Boss or MXR pedal. Dimensions are (H x W x D) 38 x 96 x 88mm or 1.5 x 3.75 x 3.5 inches to be exact.

Another Reason to Like the Dr J Armor Buffer
The Armor Buffer also has a Boost circuit built into it. This is good for boosting your signal through your chain and hitting the front end of your amp a bit harder. If you have vintage pickups with low output you can use the boost circuit to emulate a higher output pickup or you can use the boost to give your clean tone a bit more bite. Remember, the boost circuit doesn’t color your tone, it just adds up to 20dB to your signal or you just get the sound of hitting the front end of your amp a bit harder.

John Bendy was born in Brooklyn, New York October, 5 1980. He started playing guitar at age 10 and his first gig was a school talent show at age 12 after just 2 years of playing. Since then there have been hundreds upon hundreds of gigs and late night jams.

Early in the 2000s John was taken under the wing of blues masters Bill Perry and Popa Chubby. He also shared the stage with the Bendy Pastorius Group of which he was a founding member along with his brother Mike Bendy on bass and Julius Pastorius on the drums since 2007.

John played guitar on Chrissie O’Dell’s 2010 release “If I Had a Dime” which charted extremely well on blues music charts around the nation. Also in 2010 John started playing with the Hipster Assassins featuring Felix Pastorius and Mike Bendy on bass, Chris Ward on saxophone, Michael Purcell on piano and Kenny Growhowski on drums. The band would go on to have a two year Monday night residency at New York City’s Zinc Bar where John was able to share the stage with such luminaries Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band) and Roy Hargrove.

Here’s a short YouTube playlist where you can hear some of John’s inventive guitar work. We’ve had him perform in our booth at NAMM, Brooklyn Guitar Show and have had the pleasure of catching him live numerous times at the 55 Bar and the Zinc Bar.

The story continues in 2014 and beyond. If you get a chance go see John play live.

Shem Creek Music was the first place I pulled into when I moved to Charleston fresh out of high school in 2008. I was the kid they couldn’t kick out of here since then, they hired me in 2010 to help out, then in 2011, began managing the store.

Why are Dr J and Mooer pedals doing so well at your store?

Osiamo offers several great pedals, but we have had the best success with Mooer and Dr. J pedals. Those pedals sell themselves. Let a customer play one and then ring them up later, it’s been that easy for us. Great pedals.

How does the future of music stores look?

Music stores that have adapted to the changes with online sales and Guitar Center/Sam Ash/etc. have done so by pushing their service, as well as lessons and repairs. Lessons really fuel a music store. The lessons should sell the retail, and the retail should sell the lessons. That’s how we feel a successful store should run. If more stores take this model as well as competing with Guitar Center/online prices, music stores will have a very bright future.

Shem Creek Music Center’s Mooer pedal display

What is the biggest challenge for your store for this year and beyond?

Our biggest challenge is getting the greater Charleston area to come to our store and not go to a big box or online store. This is also a blessing for us, we do more repairs than anyone else in Charleston, as well as lessons. Our customers are usually our best salesmen. People come in every day with a “Bruce sent me” or “Bob told me you guys were the guys to go to.” I make damn sure that when they come in, they leave not only satisfied with their products and services that we offer, but also happier that they came in. You want customers to WANT to come back, not just need to. Our biggest challenge is catching that “average Joe” who just saw a GC commercial with a big sale, and he goes there instead of trying the local guy first. However, in Charleston, SC, there are stickers all over town with the saying “Be Local, Buy Local.” We’re very fortunate to have a town that really supports and goes the extra mile for small business like us. In return, we do the exact same for our customers.

Thanks for reading our blog. If you’re interested in learning more about our Dr J and Mooer pedals you can click over to www.OSIAMO.com and see what we have to offer; if you’re a music store and are interested in dealer opportunities send us an email at dealers@osiamo.com and we’ll get right back in touch with you. If you’re already one of our dealers we’d love to feature you in an upcoming blog too. Get in touch with us!

Osiamo Music Group and Mooer Audio are excited to announce the update to the popular Firefly pedal board. The Firefly – already the world’s smallest pedal board – now holds 6 Mooer pedals firmly and securely in place. It’s a small ergonomic gem. The Firefly features 6 form fitting slots, a heavy duty polymer shell to withstand the abuse of being stepped on for many years, a removable lid and a DC cable with 6 ends to power all your pedals with one power supply.

Did we mention it can fit inside your glove box?

Image a pedal board with 6 true bypass micro pedals that weighs less than 6 lbs! Small enough to fit in a backpack; easy to carry from house to car to stage. Go straight to the gate on your fly dates. No need to check the Firefly at the airport just carry-on with you. And don’t forget, Mooer now has 54 models available with more to come! Imagine the sound and tonal possibilities.

Join our the growing number of guitarists that are building micro boards for their fly dates and gigs were a backline is provided. We’ve quite a few artists making the switch because of the many benefits:

high quality, true bypass Mooer pedals

affordable, all Mooer pedals less than $98!

light easy to carry

nearly endless tonal possibilities

full 1 year warranty on all Mooer pedals

Not to name drop but a certain Guitar God from the most Iconic 80’s Pop/Rock band just picked up a loaded Mooer M6 for a Brazilian “fly date.” Stay tuned for a complete review!

Well 1000 words ain’t worth one video review so check out the informative video from Neal! He does a short demonstration of just one of the many possibilities available to you with Mooer micro pedals. His pedal choices: Repeater, Mod Factory, Soul Shiver, Solo, Funky Monkey and Sweeper. In all, 16 effects plus overdrive in a board that weighs less than 6 lbs!

Comment on this post with your 6 choices for a Firefly M6 would be and Neal will use his favorite suggestions in his next Firefly demo.